Guinea: Dadis Camara is Charles Taylor at best, Pol Pot at worst

The bastards actually did it! Like their evil mentor Lansana Conté, they fired on their own people with barbarous cowardice! January 2007 was not enough for them – they had to do it again, and spill innocent blood. The peaceful people of Guinea once again martyred and dehumanised.

Since 1958, the people of Guinea have suffered oppression. It neither ended with the death of Sekou Touré nor Lansana Conté. The system lives on, with its torture chambers, its gallows, the brutality of the 'the supreme leader', the avarice of 'Général Fory Coco', the archaism of 'Pivi-les-gris-gris' and the proud ignorance of 'Captain Dadis'! It remains the same, only the faces change… After Sekou Touré, Lansana Conté and Dadis Camara.

'... the womb from which the vile beast emerged is still fertile', said Brecht, writing about Nazi Germany. O Lord, master of the universe and all creation, what next after Dadis Camara? Shall we know nothing but misery and the whip? Would you cast your divine light upon us, and illuminate our paths and our spirits? Of all the leaders you create on earth, must we always suffer the most foolish, arrogant, blind and destructive? Poor Guinea, so far from God and yet so close to Dadis Camara, to Sekou Touré, to Lansana Conté and his ilk! Each time we take off, we seem to plunge back to the ground, every new era seems worse than the last. The Algerian comedian Fellag surely speaks of Guinea when he says, '… at the bottom of the abyss, they do not climb out, they dig deeper.' Guinea and tyranny are like Sisyphus and his boulder, only that Sisyphus seems more fortunate that Guinea!

For Guinea, the moments of greatest promise always seemed to end in interminable nightmares and regret.

1958
- In the beginning: the radiant smile of Sekou Touré, a shining symbol of liberation from the shackles of slavery … the black man is finally free from the colonial bonds of colonialism, free from the curse of the white man.
- In the brutal end: misery, exile, Russian snowploughs, the speeches, the public hangings, Camp Boiro, the Peul plot, Coco Lala, green mango porridge, Labe Tamba shoes…

1984
- In the beginning: the end of the dictatorship, the dream of freedom, justice, reconciliation, brotherhood, the return of exiles, social and economic restitution. Lansana Conté and Diarra Traoré were going to undo the catastrophic legacy of Sekou Touré.
- In the end: 'Wo Fatara', the assassination of Diarra Traoré, misery, corruption, the murders of January 2007, the narco-state.

2008
– In the beginning: end of the Conté regime, economic progress, democracy, and transparency
- In the end: Dadis Camara and his accursed National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), laxity, cruelty, corruption, megalomania and juvenile delinquency.

In some ways, misfortune can be helpful. The events of 28 September gave us a clear view of this evil person. We now know Dadis Camara’s true nature. When he came to power, he had the reassuring silhouette of Amadou Toumani Touré, and the messianic tone of Thomas Sankara. The cruel salvo of 28 September tore off the mask and there was no disguising the man. He was neither a new Amadou Toumani Touré, nor a new Sankara. He is Pol Pot, if not worse! Now we know Charles Taylor. Camara is not a saviour, just a gang member from another faction, here to collect his portion of blood and his share of the cake.

What about the alleged war against drug trafficking, the audits? All a ploy! It’s the old story of a wolf crying wolf to create a diversion. Accusing others of a crime that you are committing yourself is an old trick that was commonly used in Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Sekou Touré’s PDG (Parti Démocratique de Guinée) and others. Unfortunately, this trick still works in countries such as ours that have been dehumanised by the trauma of tyranny and secrecy. Monday 28 September marks a major turning point for us as a nation. Things will never be the same.

From this moment on, for all of us, the CNDD (Conseil National pour la Démocratie et le Développement) has neither the competence nor the legitimacy to legislate, to make decrees, investigate or judge anyone in Guinea. These men are illegal from head to toe. The Guinean people did not elect them, and neither does the international community recognise them. They do not deserve to be in power! Guineans must refuse to submit to their control. Rather, the people must audit them! What have they done with public money? It is time to set up a commission of inquiry, to identify and prosecute those responsible for the killings. The international community must cease all contact or dialogue with this criminal junta in Conakry until this inquiry is concluded.

Most importantly we must not make the same mistake made by the unions in 2007, which continued dialogue with Conté, in spite of the tragedy of 27 January. One on side we have the people of Guinea, united as never before. And on the other side, we have the CNDD assassins. In the between the two flows the blood of our martyrs. To those who defend Dadis and his criminal clique, I remind you of the Soussou proverb: 'The snake you feed will be the one that bites you'. They owe nothing to those who helped them come to power. The horrors of the infamous Camp Boiro teach a lesson that, tragically, nobody wants to learn.

Brethren, let us forget our quarrels and misunderstandings of the past – let us move forward as one before the bodies of our fallen. Let us dedicate ourselves fully to building a free and democratic Guinea – prosperous and united, as has always been our dream.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Tierno Monenembo is a Guinean writer and the recipient of the 2008 Prix Renaudot.
* Translated from the French by Josh Ogada.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.